I love lyrics. To me, the lyrics are the most essential part of a song. This is not to say that I don't appreciate a good guitar riff or a heart-thumping drum, because I do. Pearl Jam's "Yellow Ledbetter" is a perfect example of a song that pulls (rips) at your heartstrings even though 90% of the lyrics are completely unintelligible. And it's cool, I love that song, but I much prefer a song I can sing along with.
The lyrics are almost always the part of a song I'm first attracted to. So much so that a single line in a song - a single crafty, clever, perfect line can attract me to a song like a moth to a flame. That's all it takes, one line, and if it's good enough and hits me just right, it can inspire me to look into an artist's entire catalogue in search of other moments of awesome.
I have some examples of lines that have caught my attention and drawn me in. Sometimes that one line was all I found and I ended up abandoning my search, but other times, that single line led me to an entire world of amazing.
Neon Trees - "Animal"
"Take a bite of my heart tonight." - I heard this one line in passing on the radio one day and became obsessed with hearing the song again. I finally did and identified the artist and immediately bought their debut album Habits. I didn't find any more lyrics on this record that struck me like that line, but the whole thing is catchy as hell and I really like it. It is not in my usual vein with the synth and general '80's pop feeling, but Tyler Glenn is totally into it and I dig that. They have a new one coming out 12/07/11 (which seems quick to me, but what do I know?), I look forward to hearing what they have to offer this time.
3 Doors Down - "Kryptonite"
"You took for granted all those times I never let you down." - I admit, the title of this song drew me in, but this line talked me into staying. I only own a few songs by this band - I didn't find the substance this line promised me. I love the songs I own, but they sound a lot like everyone else, you know what I mean? They're good songs, I think they're a good band, but for the most part I'm content to just hear them on the radio and don't feel inclined to buy entire albums.
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "Breakdown"
"It's alright if you love me/It's alright if you don't/I'm not afraid of you runnin' away, honey/I get the feelin' you won't."
Ok, I admit it's not a single line, it's a whole verse, but it's Tom Petty! I'm not sure if it's the actual words or the way he sings them, but I will skip back to the beginning and listen to this verse over and over and over (and over). Love it. After I heard this song, I was totally hooked on Tom Petty.
Toad the Wet Sprocket - "Walk on the Ocean"
"Somebody told me, this is the place/Where everything's better and everything's safe."
I first heard this song many years ago when it was new, so this is an early example of my lyric obsession. This band has an overall unique, intriguing sound that I really like, but their lyrics are clever and intelligent too, which is a rare gift.
The Script - "Breakeven (Falling to Pieces)"
"Still alive but I'm barely breathing/Just prayed to a god that I don't believe in."
I heard this line and knew immediately that I'd own the song. I do, and one other by them. I like their new release too, so maybe someday I'll buy an entire album.
Matt Nathanson - "Queen of (K)nots" & "Bottom of the Sea"
Since Modern Love was the first album of his that I owned, it was the one that got me. I was caught with "Cause you're someone else's baby, yeah you're someone else's crazy now" in "Queen of (K)nots", then he set the hook with "I'm tired of getting even, let's get odd, odd, baby" in "Bottom of the Sea". This is prime example of a lyric that led me to a whole world of genius.
So my point here is this, if you hear a line that catches your attention, don't ignore it. Go with it. Find out what the song is, who the artist is, see if there is more where that came from. Sometimes, there isn't. But other times, your mind will be blown.
I have this blog because I love music passionately. I love the progression of a song, the swell of it, the way it permeates a room and fills the spaces. I love how it ebbs and flows and how it can be a tangible thing - how you can move around inside it and it can move around inside you. And I love to talk about it, write about it, experience it.
Showing posts with label Toad the Wet Sprocket. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Toad the Wet Sprocket. Show all posts
Friday, December 2, 2011
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Matt Nathanson - Beneath These Fireworks
Album: Beneath These Fireworks
Artist: Matt Nathanson
Release: October 14, 2003
Ok, I'm going to go ahead and talk about Beneath These Fireworks and get it out of my system. I feel like this is turning into The Matt Nathanson Blog, but that is so all I've listened to lately that it's not even funny. I still have At The Point and the SXSW EP to review, but I can hold off on those. As you know, I got some Violent Femmes yesterday, so that's adding some variety to my play list. For now though, still mostly jammin' to Mr. Nathanson.
So, Beneath These Fireworks. This was his major label debut, but he had released 5 independent albums prior to this one. Some sources say that he was dropped from Universal; I've also read that he didn't dig the "label scene" and got out of his contract just as this album was released. Either way, they parted ways (huge mistake on the part of Universal) so the label didn't push this record and it just kind of slid in under the radar. That, my friends, is a miscarriage of justice because this record is a beautiful thing. I hesitate to say I love it more than Modern Love (and I've already said that record is perfect, so...) but I love it different. It is an entirely different animal with only his mad lyrical skills and warm honey voice tying them together. Plus, my current favorite song of his is on this record, so I have to love it, right??
Because of the label affiliation (and Matt's overall awesomeness) this record is littered with a who's who of musicians. It features people like Jamie Muhoberac on keyboards, a studio musician who has played with the likes of Fleetwood Mac, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. Matt Fish (who Matt Nathanson toured with) plays cello on it and Emm Gryner sings backup on "Sing Me Sweet". The coolest addition for me is Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket singing backup vocals on "Pretty the World" and "Sad Songs". How cool is that?? (Don't know Toad the Wet Sprocket?? Hurry, go buy their album Fear, listen to it, and come back. I'll wait...)
Getting back on topic, Beneath These Fireworks is just a really great record with some brilliant writing. The lyrics on this one hold out through the entire record. There are no awkward moments, no times when you wonder if maybe he was at a loss. Of course, I have yet to hear any of his songs that have questionable lyrics and that's not true for everyone, even some of my favorites (just wait until I review Save Me, San Fransisco *sob*). Overall, this record isn't nearly as sad as Some Mad Hope. Sure, the songs are all laden with emotion and some of them recount some apparently painful experiences, but is just more upbeat and less dreamy and melancholy. I think maybe he sounds more angry or bitter on this one, which for me is always less tragic than the defeated sadness that permeates Some Mad Hope.
"Suspended", the second song on this record is my current favorite. It's tough to pull just one line out of this song to illustrate it's awesomeness. However, my personal favorite is: "With your breathing, filling up my lungs, I can almost believe, that I'm almost enough." This song feels like an anthem for dead-end relationships. One person isn't satisfied with the other but pretends to be. So the other person, totally in love, clings to that pretense and just goes with it. As a result, nobody goes anywhere and they end up...well...Suspended.
In close competition for the title of My Current Favorite is "Pretty the World". You've heard me praise this song before, I've even tweeted the accolades of this song. It's just that good. It's fast and peppy and with lines like, "And I'll lie, until I believe" it is too fun to sing in the car. Plus, this song has a little bit of magic in it. Technically, musically, I'm not sure what it does (I can read music and play piano some, but I don't really grasp things like chord/key changes and whatnot), but I do know that the verse dances around inside your head, then the chorus drops down into your chest and you can physically feel it. The song is written in the key of magic. My wish for you, is that you someday get to hear him play it live so you can really feel it. Like so many of his songs, when performed live, you don't just hear them with your ears, you 'hear' them with your entire body.
"Curve of the Earth" follows "Pretty the World" and it stands right up to it. "Tell me does he look like me at all? Cause they're all an awful lot like you." What woman hasn't wanted to hear that from her ex? To know that she affected his ass like that, to influence every future relationship. Things quiet down then with "Bent", a heart breaker. "You're so sorry about it all, now that it's over, should I thank you for that, Dear?" He asks, basically, if I had done things differently, if I had done things the way you said to, would you have still destroyed me? Which of course, she would have, but now she's sorry about it all so that's supposed to make it all better. Um...no.
This record explores relationships that have just gone wrong, for whatever reason. Either party can be to blame, or maybe nobody is, maybe it's just the way life goes. Sometimes relationships just crumble under the pressure of real life, such as in "Weight of It All": "Show me where the sun comes through the sky, I'll show where the rain gets in and I'll show you hurricanes and the way that summer fades, underneath the weight of it all." Or, as in "Bent", you just ended up involved with someone who has a habit of breaking people and there isn't shit you can do about it, "If I bent, like you said was best, would that change a thing? If I spent myself till nothing's left, would you still leave me here?" We know by now that Mr. Nathanson very rarely writes a song about a lovely, wonderful, healthy relationship. Of course, those don't generally inspire the angst that breeds creativity. (But if you have to have one, check out "Drop to Hold You" on Modern Love...just sayin'.)
Still, with all the pain and turmoil on this record, he manages to close it out with a happy little song that leaves a "sweet" taste in your mouth. In "Sing Me Sweet", he has apparently found something great: "Say you'll never let me go, cause I've gone long enough, waiting for wonderful." So once again, we're left hopeful, that true love is out there and maybe he has it. Because when you listen to this record, all you hope is that someone has come into his life who makes it all ok.
Artist: Matt Nathanson
Release: October 14, 2003
So, Beneath These Fireworks. This was his major label debut, but he had released 5 independent albums prior to this one. Some sources say that he was dropped from Universal; I've also read that he didn't dig the "label scene" and got out of his contract just as this album was released. Either way, they parted ways (huge mistake on the part of Universal) so the label didn't push this record and it just kind of slid in under the radar. That, my friends, is a miscarriage of justice because this record is a beautiful thing. I hesitate to say I love it more than Modern Love (and I've already said that record is perfect, so...) but I love it different. It is an entirely different animal with only his mad lyrical skills and warm honey voice tying them together. Plus, my current favorite song of his is on this record, so I have to love it, right??
Because of the label affiliation (and Matt's overall awesomeness) this record is littered with a who's who of musicians. It features people like Jamie Muhoberac on keyboards, a studio musician who has played with the likes of Fleetwood Mac, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. Matt Fish (who Matt Nathanson toured with) plays cello on it and Emm Gryner sings backup on "Sing Me Sweet". The coolest addition for me is Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket singing backup vocals on "Pretty the World" and "Sad Songs". How cool is that?? (Don't know Toad the Wet Sprocket?? Hurry, go buy their album Fear, listen to it, and come back. I'll wait...)
Getting back on topic, Beneath These Fireworks is just a really great record with some brilliant writing. The lyrics on this one hold out through the entire record. There are no awkward moments, no times when you wonder if maybe he was at a loss. Of course, I have yet to hear any of his songs that have questionable lyrics and that's not true for everyone, even some of my favorites (just wait until I review Save Me, San Fransisco *sob*). Overall, this record isn't nearly as sad as Some Mad Hope. Sure, the songs are all laden with emotion and some of them recount some apparently painful experiences, but is just more upbeat and less dreamy and melancholy. I think maybe he sounds more angry or bitter on this one, which for me is always less tragic than the defeated sadness that permeates Some Mad Hope.
"Suspended", the second song on this record is my current favorite. It's tough to pull just one line out of this song to illustrate it's awesomeness. However, my personal favorite is: "With your breathing, filling up my lungs, I can almost believe, that I'm almost enough." This song feels like an anthem for dead-end relationships. One person isn't satisfied with the other but pretends to be. So the other person, totally in love, clings to that pretense and just goes with it. As a result, nobody goes anywhere and they end up...well...Suspended.
In close competition for the title of My Current Favorite is "Pretty the World". You've heard me praise this song before, I've even tweeted the accolades of this song. It's just that good. It's fast and peppy and with lines like, "And I'll lie, until I believe" it is too fun to sing in the car. Plus, this song has a little bit of magic in it. Technically, musically, I'm not sure what it does (I can read music and play piano some, but I don't really grasp things like chord/key changes and whatnot), but I do know that the verse dances around inside your head, then the chorus drops down into your chest and you can physically feel it. The song is written in the key of magic. My wish for you, is that you someday get to hear him play it live so you can really feel it. Like so many of his songs, when performed live, you don't just hear them with your ears, you 'hear' them with your entire body.
"Curve of the Earth" follows "Pretty the World" and it stands right up to it. "Tell me does he look like me at all? Cause they're all an awful lot like you." What woman hasn't wanted to hear that from her ex? To know that she affected his ass like that, to influence every future relationship. Things quiet down then with "Bent", a heart breaker. "You're so sorry about it all, now that it's over, should I thank you for that, Dear?" He asks, basically, if I had done things differently, if I had done things the way you said to, would you have still destroyed me? Which of course, she would have, but now she's sorry about it all so that's supposed to make it all better. Um...no.
This record explores relationships that have just gone wrong, for whatever reason. Either party can be to blame, or maybe nobody is, maybe it's just the way life goes. Sometimes relationships just crumble under the pressure of real life, such as in "Weight of It All": "Show me where the sun comes through the sky, I'll show where the rain gets in and I'll show you hurricanes and the way that summer fades, underneath the weight of it all." Or, as in "Bent", you just ended up involved with someone who has a habit of breaking people and there isn't shit you can do about it, "If I bent, like you said was best, would that change a thing? If I spent myself till nothing's left, would you still leave me here?" We know by now that Mr. Nathanson very rarely writes a song about a lovely, wonderful, healthy relationship. Of course, those don't generally inspire the angst that breeds creativity. (But if you have to have one, check out "Drop to Hold You" on Modern Love...just sayin'.)
Still, with all the pain and turmoil on this record, he manages to close it out with a happy little song that leaves a "sweet" taste in your mouth. In "Sing Me Sweet", he has apparently found something great: "Say you'll never let me go, cause I've gone long enough, waiting for wonderful." So once again, we're left hopeful, that true love is out there and maybe he has it. Because when you listen to this record, all you hope is that someone has come into his life who makes it all ok.
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